Ron Christie Should Never Be on Television Again

Late last night, unable to sleep in a hotel room, I turned on MSNBC and I saw an amazing segment about the right-wing assault on Candy Crowley for the egregious act of journalism she committed the other night to the detriment of Willard Romney, who really has become quite a remarkable liar over the past few years. I was only about half-paying attention to the whole business until host Ed Schultz brought on former Bush flack Ron Christie to chat over the topic with a Democratic strategist named Chris Kofinis. Christie is one of those apologists for C-Plus Augustus who pop up from time to time. As he willingly flacked for the most truthless administration of all time, Christie prima facie doesn't have the credibility that God gave the common sea slug, but he got brought out anyway. The ensuing segment smacked my gob out the window of the hotel and twenty-one floors down into the Chicago River below.

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Christie ran all over Kofinis. He filibustered. He made things up. He was rude and hostile and behaved at all times like a fellow of whom my old Irish gran' would have asked, "Who is he when he's at home?" ("I was in the White House on 9/11," Christie spouted at one point. Yeah, and so were janitors who are much more honorable than you are, sport.) When Kofinis started to object at being run over by the Bullshit Express at one point, Christie blew him off by telling him he was "acting like the president did the other night."

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But Christie was just getting warmed up. At the end there, he tells Schultz that, and I am not making this up, Republicans "do not politicize terror."

Is there even any point in refuting such a self-evident lie? Maybe we should outsource to discussion to, oh, I don't know, maybe Max Cleland. When Schultz threw out the obvious rejoinder — that, outside of crushing dissent within the administration and drinking the blood of newborn fawns, politicizing terror was about all Dick Cheney did during the 2004 campaign — Christie scoffed that Schultz had to get his Dick Cheney line in. Which is not missing the point. It's not giving a good goddamn what the point was in the first place.

Here's what I don't understand. Ron Christie went on television last night and was rude to the host, rude to his fellow guest, rude to the host, and trafficked in the most obviously laughable falsehood since the last time Willard Romney gave a speech. Why, then, would you ever have this fellow back? There are other conservatives. What purpose does having Ron Christie on your air serve?